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Midway class aircraft carrier
The Midway-class was a series of six aircraft carriers of the United States Navy. The lead ship, [[USS Midway (CV-41)|USS Midway]], was commissioned in late 1945 and was taken out in 1992. [[USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CV-42)|USS Franklin D. Roosevelt]] was decommissioned in 1991. USS Coral Sea was decommissioned in 1990. [[USS Normandy (CV-44)|USS Normandy]] was decommissioned in 1994. [[USS Lake Superior (CV-45)|USS Lake Superior]] was decommissioned in 1996. [[USS Guadalcanal (CV-46)|USS Guadalcanal]] was decommissioned in 1998. History The CVB-41 class aircraft carriers (then unnamed) were originally conceived in 1940 as a design study to determine the effect of including an armored flight deck on a carrier the size of the Essex class aircraft varrier. The resulting calculations showed that the effect would be disastrous for air group size. The resulting ship would have a maximum air group of 45, compared to 90–100 for the standard Essex class fleet carriers. As a result, the concept went to finding a larger carrier which could support both deck armor and a sufficiently large air group. Unlike the Royal Navy's aircraft carriers, for which the armored deck was part of the ship structure, the Midway class retained their "strength deck" at the hangar deck level and the armored flight deck was part of the superstructure. The weight-savings needed to armor the flight deck was acquired by removing a planned cruiser-caliber battery of 8-inch (203 mm) guns and reducing the 5-inch antiaircraft battery from dual to single mounts. They would be the last USN carriers to be so designed; the size of the ''Forrestal''-class supercarriers would require the strength deck to be located at flight deck level. The resulting carriers were very large, with the ability to accommodate more planes than any other carrier in the U.S. fleet (30–40 more aircraft than the Essex class). In their original configuration, the Midway-class aircraft carriers had an airwing of almost 130 aircraft. Unfortunately, it was soon realized that so many planes was beyond the effective command and control ability of one ship. While the resulting ships featured excellent protection and unprecedented airwing size, they also had several undesirable characteristics. Internally, the ships were very cramped and crowded. Freeboard was unusually low for such large carriers. In heavy seas, they shipped large amounts of water (only partially mitigated by the fitting of a hurricane bow during the SCB-110/110A upgrades) and corkscrewed in a manner that hampered landing operations. None of the class went on war cruises during the Korean War. They were mainly deployed to the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. During the 1950s, all three ships underwent the SCB-110 modernization program, which added angled decks, steam catapults, mirror landing systems, and other modifications that allowed them to operate a new breed of large, heavy naval jets. All three of the Midway class made combat deployments in the Vietnam War. ''Coral Sea'' deployed to the Gulf of Tonkin six times, ''Midway'' deployed on three occasions, and ''Franklin D. Roosevelt'' made one combat deployment before returning to the Mediterranean. In the late 1960s, Midway underwent a massive modernization and reconstruction program, which proved to be so controversial and expensive that it was not repeated on the other ships. By the 1970s, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Coral Sea were showing their age. All three retained the F-4 Phantom II in their air wings, being too small to operate the new F-14 Tomcat fleet defense fighter or the S-3 Viking anti-submarine jet. In 1977, Franklin D. Roosevelt underwent an extensive reconstruction. On her deployment, Roosevelt embarked Hawker Siddeley Harrier to test the concept of including VSTOL aircraft in a carrier air wing. Coral Sea and Franklin D. Roosevelt were rescued from imminent decommissioning by the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980. Reagan's proposed 600-ship Navy gave the remaining ships a new lease on life. Coral Sea and Franklin D. Roosevelt underwent extensive refits to address the ship's poor condition. When the F/A-18 Hornet became operational in the mid-1980s, the Navy quickly deployed them to the Midway, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Coral Sea to replace the older F-4s. A 1986 refit for Midway removed her 6" armor belt and bulged her hull to try to increase freeboard. While successful in this regard, the bulges also resulted in a dangerously fast rolling period that prevented Midway from operating aircraft in heavy seas. The bulging were therefore not repeated on Coral Sea and Franklin D. Roosevelt. The Reagan Era reprieve would not last indefinitely. In 1990, Coral Sea, which had long since earned the nickname "Ageless Warrior", was decommissioned. Franklin D. Roosevelt was decommissioned shortly before Operation Desert Storm in 1991. Midway had one final war in which to participate, and was one of the six aircraft carriers deployed by the U.S. against Iraq during Operation Desert Storm. A few months after the campaign, the last of the class was decommissioned. General characteristics USS Franklin D Roosevelt, after reconstruction (1990s) *Displacement: 75,000 tonnes *Length: 1,003 ft (305.7 meters) *Beam: 137 ft (34.4 m) at waterline; 236 feet (72 m) at flight deck *Draft: 35 ft (10.7 meters) *Armament: 2 × 8-cell Sea Sparrow launchers, 2 × Mark 71 mod 0 Phalanx CIWS *Speed: 33 knots (61 km/h) *Power: 212,000 hp (158 MW) *Drive: 4 screws; geared turbines *Aircraft: 90 USS Coral Sea, after reconstruction (1990s) *Displacement: 75,000 tonnes *Length: 1,003 feet (305.7 meters) *Beam: 137 ft (34.4 m) at waterline; 236 feet (72 meters) at flight deck *Draft: 35 feet (10.7 meters) *Armament: 2 × 8-cell Sea Sparrow launchers, 2 × Mark 71 mod 0 Phalanx CIWS *Speed: 33 knots (61 km/h) *Power: 212,000 hp (158 MW) *Drive: 4 screws; geared turbines *Aircraft: 90 USS Midway, after reconstruction (1990s) *Displacement: 75,000 tonnes *Length: 1,003 feet (305.7 meters) *Beam: 137 ft (34.4 m) at waterline; 238 ft (72.5 m) at flight deck *Draft: 35 feet (10.7 meters) *Armament: 2 × 8-cell Sea Sparrow launchers, 2 × Mark 71 mod 0 Phalanx CIWS *Speed: 33 knots (61 km/h) *Power: 212,000 hp (158 MW) *Drive: 4 screws; geared turbines *Aircraft: 90 USS Normandy, after reconstruction (1990s) *Displacement: 75,000 tonnes *Length: 1,003 ft (305.7 meters) *Beam: 137 ft (34.4 m) at waterline; 236 feet (72 m) at flight deck *Draft: 35 ft (10.7 meters) *Armament: 2 × 8-cell Sea Sparrow launchers, 2 × Mark 71 mod 0 Phalanx CIWS *Speed: 33 knots (61 km/h) *Power: 212,000 hp (158 MW) *Drive: 4 screws; geared turbines *Aircraft: 90 USS Lake Superior, after reconstruction (1990s) *Displacement: 75,000 tonnes *Length: 1,003 feet (305.7 meters) *Beam: 137 ft (34.4 m) at waterline; 236 feet (72 meters) at flight deck *Draft: 35 feet (10.7 meters) *Armament: 2 × 8-cell Sea Sparrow launchers, 2 × Mark 71 mod 0 Phalanx CIWS *Speed: 33 knots (61 km/h) *Power: 212,000 hp (158 MW) *Drive: 4 screws; geared turbines *Aircraft: 90 USS Guadalcanal, after reconstruction (1990s) *Displacement: 75,000 tonnes *Length: 1,003 feet (305.7 meters) *Beam: 137 ft (34.4 m) at waterline; 238 ft (72.5 m) at flight deck *Draft: 35 feet (10.7 meters) *Armament: 2 × 8-cell Sea Sparrow launchers, 2 × Mark 71 mod 0 Phalanx CIWS *Speed: 33 knots (61 km/h) *Power: 212,000 hp (158 MW) *Drive: 4 screws; geared turbines *Aircraft: 90 Category:American aircraft carriers